*Event date: 2024-12-31*
Five people were wounded in a knife attack in Villa Verucchio, near Rimini, before the attacker was shot dead by a carabinieri commander who first fired warning shots and then used live fire when the man continued to advance. The supplied Il Resto del Carlino report describes a frightening sequence in which the attacker moved through the street seemingly at random, striking passersby before confronting police.
According to the report, the assailant was a 23-year-old man of Egyptian origin who carried a 22-centimeter kitchen knife. Witnesses said he attacked people in the street without an apparent target, hitting a teenager near a cigarette machine, another young man, a couple walking nearby and a young woman. The report says five people were hurt in all, with injuries ranging from serious to superficial, and that the police response happened quickly after passersby raised the alarm.
When the carabinieri arrived, the man was still holding the knife and kept moving toward them. The station commander, Luciano Masini, first fired warning shots and then shot the attacker repeatedly when he did not stop. The report says the man died at the scene. The commander was later entered into the register of suspects for excessive self-defense, a procedural step the prosecutor described as necessary so he could appoint a lawyer and a forensic expert for the autopsy.
The article also notes that investigators found a Quran, prayer beads and, at home, a prayer mat and antipsychotic medication. The prosecutor said no theory was being ruled out, including terrorism, but the report does not present any definitive motive. That caution is important, because the items found on the man were part of the inquiry rather than proof of intent. The source therefore leaves open whether the attack was random, ideologically driven or linked to a mental-health crisis.
What is already clear is that the scene turned from a street assault into a police shooting within moments, with civilians and officers both exposed to danger. The report’s casualty details, the commander’s legal position and the ongoing forensic work show that the case is still in its early legal phase. Even so, the basic facts are stark: five wounded, one attacker dead and an investigation that has not yet settled on a single explanation for why the violence began.
The legal step taken against the commander also shows how quickly a defensive shooting can become a separate investigation. Italian prosecutors do not appear to be saying the attacker was anything other than the aggressor, but they still have to examine whether the use of force was justified in law. That is why the report mentions the autopsy, the warning shots and the items found on the attacker. The street violence is over, but the forensic and legal questions are only beginning, and the article has to reflect both realities at once.
The attacker’s movement through the street and toward police is what turned a stabbing spree into a deadly force incident. Once he ignored the warning shots, the commander’s legal exposure became part of the story, even though the attacker was already dead. The report’s combination of street violence, medical treatment, forensic work and possible motive means the event is still being processed from several angles at once, all before a final judicial account exists.
